The Dutch women’s water polo team convincingly won their last group match against China at the World Championships in Singapore on Tuesday: 13-7. The Netherlands finished second in the group behind the United States and will therefore play an intermediate round.
The Netherlands cherished a 5-3 lead over China halfway through the match. After that, Orange raised the level and the team of national coach Evangelos Doudesis increased to a comfortable victory. Captain Sabrina van der Sloot scored the most often (four times).
Orange started the tournament with a monster victory over Argentina (25-6), but lost 9-11 to the US in the second group match. The Americans are the reigning world champions. The Netherlands won the world title two years ago.
The Netherlands will play against the number three of group A in the intermediate round on Thursday. Currently that is Italy, but the expectation is that New Zealand will take over that place in the last round.
If the Netherlands wins the intermediate round, Doudesis’ team will face Spain in the quarter-finals. The Olympic champion and number one in the world ranking became group winner of pool D with resounding numbers.